Australia Leading Economic Index

Last Release

Mar 31, 2024

Actual

-0.1

Units In

0.08

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

May 24, 2024

Time to Release

1 Months 4 Days 19 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
0.76 Nov 2020	-1.74 Apr 2020	-0.01 %	1960-2024	Westpac-Melbourne Institute

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index of Economic Activity combines a selection of economic variables that typically lead fluctuations in economic activity into a single measure that provides a reliable cyclical indicator for the Australian economy. The index includes the following components: S&P/ASX 200, dwelling approvals, US industrial production, RBA Commodity Prices Index (A$), aggregate monthly hours worked, Westpac-MI CSI expectations index, Westpac-MI Unemployment expectations index, yield spread (10Y bond – 90D bill). The index has a base value of 100 as of 1996.

Latest Updates

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia edged down 0.1% month-over-month in March 2024, swinging from a 0.1% rise in the prior month. Meanwhile, the six-month annualized growth rate in the index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to the trend three to nine months into the future, fell to -0.23% in March from -0.03% in February, underlining a sub-trend growth performance that may continue throughout the year. Westpac indicated Australia’s GDP growth to remain muted at 1.6% in 2024, in line with a soft 1.5% outcome a year earlier. That is well below Australia’s ‘trend’ growth of around 2.5%. The weak signal from the leading index will provide some comfort for the Reserve Bank that slow growth and the associated rebalancing of supply and demand will continue to work towards a further easing in price pressures, according to Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan.